where the two cultures meet

Science Fiction

Exploring the world when you’re young encourages your fantasies, especially for those involved with science. Some of these people are as much puzzled by such mysteries as by a search for objective truths.

Jules Vernes went to sea when he was young. HG Wells studied zoology. For both writers, these early experiences inspired novels looking to the utopia of a new world based on scientific discovery.

The Canadian film director David Cronenberg is well-known for his 1986 remake of The Fly, and he also studied zoology, with the author Margaret Attwood, in Toronto in the early 1960s.

His films build a link between the genres of science fiction and horror, distorting events and imagery together. Cronenberg has said that studying biology made him excited about how life came to be and how it continues to exist. His latest film will soon be showing at a cinema near you.